On January 6, Navalny also taunted the Kremlin over soaring inflation caused by the drastic decrease in the value of the ruble as the Russian economy, which is greatly dependent on hydrocarbon exports, bears the brunt of low world oil prices and Western sanctions for Moscow's role in the Ukrainian crisis.

Navalny, who has been under house arrest since February, wrote, "What a price for milk!" and mentioned that when his house arrest started a liter of milk was 45 rubles and now cost 75 rubles.

In a related story, a Moscow court on January 6 rejected a complaint from the prison service.